Slide-action firearm with hammer releasable action lock



C. H. BENSON Dec. 9, 1958 SLIDE-ACTION FIREARM WITH HAMMER RELEASABLE ACTION LOCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1955 I'NVENTOK CARL H. BENSON SMQW AZZURNEYS' Dec. 9, 1958 C. H. BENSON SLIDE-ACTION FIREARM WITH HAMMER RELEASABLE ACTION LOCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 31, 1955 r IIIIII iii 1.

[IVVE/VTOR CA R1. H. BENSON BY ATTORNEYS C. H. BENSON Dec. 9, 1958 SLIDE-ACTION FIREARM WITH HAMMER RELEASABLE ACTION LOCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 31. 1955 ATTORNEYS m we m. mH 1m A C SlLiDE-ACTIUN FIREARM WITH HAMMER RELEASABLE ACTION LOCK Carl H. Benson, New Haven, Conn, assignor to 0. F.

Mossberg & Sons, line, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August 31, 1955, Serial No. 531,798

8 Claims. ((31. 42-20) This invention relates to improved breech loading firearms and especially to the type commonly known as slide actuated firearms, although it will be readily appreciated that certain features of the invention are equally applicable to firearms of other types.

The safety mechanisms associated with the fire control of firearms are normally rather complex and expensive to manufacture, and must of necessity be of such nature as to function reliably at all times. The present invention has for its object the provision of fire control and safety devices of relatively simple and inexpensive construction, but which will serve to provide under all circumstances safeguards on the operation of the firearm which are fully equivalent or superior to those generally in effect at present. The object includes the provision of an improved and less costly action slide lock, safety control, sear, trigger disconnector means, and the improved and simplified physical arrangement of each with respect to one or more of the others.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved smoothly acting breech bolt locking mechanism which requires few parts and which can be made and assembled with a minimum number of steps.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved slidable forearm grip and improved means for connecting the action to or disassociating it from the grip in order that the firearm may be taken down.

The exact nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will become apparent from a consideration of the detailed description which follows.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a partial side elevation of a firearm constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded fragmentary perspective showinga fire control mechanism according to the invention;

Fig. 3 is a top plan of the trigger plate assembly and the the control means thereon, and including a portion of the action slide and a fragment of the receiver with the parts in battery position;

Fig. 4 is a left side elevation of the device of Fig. 3 but also illustrating the breech bolt, and providing a showing of part of the receiver in longitudinal section;

Fig. 4a is a view similar to Fig. 4, but with the bolt and receiver omitted, and showing the parts with the trigger in operat lposition;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but with a portion of the action slide broken away, with the hammer in fired position and with the action slide positioned to unlock the breech bolt;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to 4, but showing the breech bolt in retired position;

Fig. 7 is a right side elevation of the device of Fig. 4 with the parts in the same position as in Fig. 4, and with the action slide broken away to show the pressure plunger;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7, but with the hammer in fired position and illustrating how the action is unlocke 2,863,247 Patented Dec. 9, 1958 Fig. 9 is a partial vertical axial section through breech bolt assembly of the firearm according to this invention;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the device of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a bottom plan of the device of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the stock and forearm grip of the firearm shown in Fig. 1, with the barrel shown in broken lines;

Fig. 13 is a section on line 13-13 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a view like Fig. 13, but showing the parts in partially disassembled condition;

Fig. 15 is a partial left side elevation of a firearm according to the invention and showing the barrel, receiver,

trigger plate and action bar assembly partially removed from the stock; and

Fig. 16 is a detail bottom plan of the safety control member.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is illustrated as applied to a shotgun 20, although its principles can also be applied to other types of small arms as will be readily appreciated. The shotgun 20 comprises a stock 22 having a forearm 23 and mounting a receiver 24 to which is rigidly secured a barrel 26. Slidably mounted in the receiver is a breech bolt 28 whose motion is controlled by an action slide including action bars 30, 30a which are in turn connected to a grip 31 for manual operation thereby. The grip 31 is slidable on the forearm 23 of the stock 22. The breech bolt 28 carries laterally projecting cartridge extractors 52 (Figs. 1 and 6) and swaged guide lugs 29 which cause the bolt to be guided in its reciprocating motion by their engagement in guide grooves 29' at the sides of the receiver. Cartridges are stored in the magazine 32 pending their transfer to the chamber of the barrel 26 for firing. A fire control mechanism 34 mounted on a trigger plate 36 and including a trigger 38 effects firing motion of the hammer under proper conditions and prevents firing when gun conditions are such that it would be inappropriate or dangerous.

As seen in Figs. 4 to 8 the trigger plate 36 may be secured to the lower part of the receiver by suitable means such as push pins 40, 40a. The rear end of the receiver is closed by a suitably stamped closure plate which is held in place by sliding upwardly into suitable guide grooves 51 in the receiver walls and which is there retained when the trigger plate 36 is fixed in position to block its removal. Removal of the closure plate 50 permits the breech bolt 28 to be slid rearwardly out of the receiver 24.

The breech bolt 28 is slidable back and forth in the receiver 24 between a forward position (Fig. 4) in which it closes the breech of the barrel and a rearward position (Fig. 6) out of the way of an incoming cartridge, and carries at its forward end the cartridge extractor means 52, heretofore referred to, of conventional character. The bolt 28 also carries a firing means for the shell including a tappet 54 which will be struck by the hammer of the fire control mechanism 34 at the appropriate time.

It will be noted that the upper surface 53 of the forward portion of the trigger plate 36 cooperates with downwardly facing shoulders 55 formed in the side walls of receiver 24 to provide a guide track securely defining the direction of travel of the action bars 30, 38a. In addition to being guided between the aforementioned shoulders 55 and surface 53, it will be apparent that the bars 30, 30a are also retained in place by the presence of the trigger plate 36, and that when the latter is detached from the receiver, the action bars can be readily removed by a downward displacement away from the receiver-barrel assembly, the stock being, of course, removed.

Turning now to the fire control mechanism, the same is carried primarily by the trigger plate 36 which is preferably a die cast member having a central, top-open ing recess 42 (Fig. 3), a left side depression 46 and a right side depression 48. Pivoted in the central recess 42 is a hammer assembly 56 including a hammer 57 and a cam portion 92 (to be hereinafter described). The hammer assembly 56 is urged upwardly and forwardly by a hammer spring 58. Also mounted on the trigger plate 36 is the trigger 38 which projects through an opening 68 provided in the bottom wall of the recess 42 and which is pivoted to the trigger plate by a pin 62. The hammer 57 includes (Figs. 2 and a portion providing at one side a sear by-pass groove 64 and a holding ledge 66, one edge of the groove being sloped as at 68 so as to cam the sear aside during cocking of the hammer. A sear 70, best seen in Fig. 2, is pivoted on the trigger plate 36 within the recess 42 adjacent the hammer assembly 56 and includes a latch tooth 72 for engagement with the holding. ledge 66 for retaining the hammer in cock-ed position. A spring 74 is provided which tends to maintain the sear in rearward or hammer-latching position. The sear 70 furthermore includes a control lug 76 which extends outwardly into the left side depression 46 for cooperation with a connector bar 78. The connector bar 78 is a stamping which is bent at one end 80 so as to extend into the central recess where it is pivotally connected to the upper end of the trigger 38 as at 82 and the remainder of the connector bar lies within the left hand depression 46 of the trigger plate 36. The mid portion is notched as at 84 to receive the control lug 76 of the sear, and a spring 86 normally urges the connector bar to a position such that the notch and control lug engagement will be maintained.

The forward end of the connector bar 78 has a cam nose 88 which. is engaged by the rear end of the action bar 30 and which is shaped to cause the connector bar. 78 to be lowered so that the notch 84 clears the control lug 76 and becomes disconnected therefrom whenever the action is in any position other than battery position, thus preventing firing on an unlocked breech or the release of the hammer ahead of the action while thebre'e'ch bolt is retired. It will also be noted that whenthe trigger 38 is pulled, the connector bar 78, in being moved forward by the trigger, i cammed downwardly by the rearend of the action bar Silas seen in'Fig. 4a. The parts are so proportioned, however, that his downward movement of the forward end of the connector bar 78 is insufficient to fully disconnect the notch 84 from control lug '76 before firing occurs whenever the actionbar 30 is in full battery position, but that. it can produce a disconnecting result under other circumstances, as will'presently appear. 7

The hammer assembly further includes a cam portion 92, which is integral with and moves with thehammer 57 during its cocking and striking motions. The cam portion lies along the right face of the hammer assembly as can be seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 8. Pivoted to the trigger plate within the central recess 42 to the right of and adjacent the hammer assembly is a follower lever 94 whose tip lies just below the pivot of hammer'assembly 56 and in position for cooperation with the cam portion 92. A lateral spring control arm 96 is integral with the follower lever 94 and extends through a suitable opening in the right wall of the trigger plate for a purpose which will presently appear.

An action lock in the form of lever% is pivoted, e. g. on'a screw 1%, on the right hand exterior of the trlgger plate within the right depression 48. Thelever, has on its forward end a-locking tip 102which, when upwardly positioned, lies in'the-pathof the otheraction bar 30a and eifectively blocks its motion away from-battery position. A locking spring 104 normally tendsto urge the lock lever 98 into the described locking position. An unlocking spring'1ti6 is also provided so positioned (and having sufiicientstrength, when aoting), to over- 4 come the force of spring 104 and to retract the tip 102 to unlocked position. The spring 106, however, is under the control of the spring control arm 96 whose tip lies between the spring 106 and the lock lever 98. Unlocking spring 106 is accordingly prevented from acting on the lock lever 98 whenever the follower lever 94 is depressed by cam portion 92, which occurs when the hammer assembly 56 is in cocked position. The lock lever 98 also includes a finger piece 108 which extends to a convenient point exteriorly of the stock 22 (see Fig. l) to permit manual unlocking of the action when required.

An action block 90, carried between the rear ends of action bars 30, 30a and combining with them to form the action slide of the firearm, has on its upper surface a pair of cam recesses 110 and lands 111 for cooperation with the breech bolt 28 and its lock constituting the breech bolt assembly. The latter is shown in detail in Figs. 9 to 11 wherein it can be seen that the breech bolt has an annular recess 112 near the rear end into which is slidably fitted a yoke 114 having a U configuration. The end of each leg of the U is shaped to provide a cam projection 116, each for cooperation with one of the cam recesses 110. Each cam projection has a forward unlocking sloping face 118 and a rearward locking sloping face 120. The yoke 114 is held in place on the breech bolt' and is urged to a normal lowered or unlocked position by a spring 122. The spring is preferably in the form of a Y with outwardly projecting tips 124 received in notches 126, one in each of the legs of yoke 114, and includes at its base a mounting eye 12% for receiving the mounting screw 136 which is threaded into the under surface of the breech bolt 28, preferably at the inner surface of a kerf or groove 132. The screw is of sufficient length to extend into a central bore 134'in the breech bolt and has a reduced unthreaded tip 136 for this purpose. The bore 134 slidably carries the tappet or shouldered element 54 which actuates a firing pin 138. The tappet 54 has spaced integral collars 140 and 142 presenting spaced shoulders which can engage the tip 136 of screw 130. The former serves to retain the tappet in place against the pressure of the usual firing pin retracting spring (not shown) and the latter to limit the inward travel of the tappet.

The placing of the notches 126 should be noted. These are located high enough to be at least partially closed by. a portion of the breech bolt 23 so as to prevent the tips 124 of the spring arms from sliding out of the ends of the notches 126 when the screw 130 has been withdrawn. Thus inadvertent disconnection of the spring 122 and yoke 114 is prevented, a conscious withdrawal of one of the tips 124 inwardly towards the other against the force of the spring arms being required to effect this separation, and the spring serving to close the open mouth 'of the U-shaped member and prevent its separationfrom the breech bolt until the spring is intentionally removed.

The receiver 24 (Figs. 4 to 8) has the inner surface of its upper portion grooved out or recessed as indicated by reference character 144 to provide a locking ledge 146. The groove 144 is so located that when the breech bolt is in full battery position the yoke 114 can just slide upwardly into the groove 144 and lock against the ledge 146 to insure a closed breech during the firing of the gun.

The action block 90 carries at its forward side and projecting therefrom a plunger or pressure element 142- which is backed up and urged forwardly by a relatively strong spring 150. The plunger impinges on an integral stop portion 152 of the receiver which lies directly before it and serves as areaction member for the pressure of the plunger-spring combination 148, 1561 when the block 90 is in forward position. The primary function of the plunger is to urge the action block 98 and action bars 30and30a a slight but noticeable increment'rearwardly of their actual battery position. This function will come into play in the fire control operation in two ways as will hereinafter appear.

The operation of the breech action and fire control mechanism will now be described assuming that the gun is just about to be fired and then reloaded in preparation for another firing operation. In this circumstance the parts are disposed as seen in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 7. The shooter puts the butt of the stock 22 to his shoulder and normally applies a light backward pressure to the grip 31 to hold the gun in place. When the trigger 38 is pulled rearwardly, the parts move to the position shown in Fig. 4a, the notch 84 moving the control lug 76 forwardly and thus disengaging the latch tooth 72 (Fig. 2) of the sear 70 from the holding ledge 66 on the hammer assembly 56, and allowing the latter to swing upwardly striking the end of tappet 54 to fire the cartridge. 7' 7' The operation of unlocking the action after firing can be most easily seen in connection with dry firing of the firearm (i. e. firing with a dummy cartridge or with no cartridge at all), and the following description, therefore, will proceed first on that basis. The parts will be found in the position shown in Fig. 7 (except that the hammer will be raised). The effect of raising the hammer is to cause cam portion 92 to free the follower 94 and allow strong unlocking spring 106 to come into action against locking lever 98. This does not change the levers position, however, for action slide a is still firmly pressed against the tip 102 by the plunger 148 and acts as a detent therefor. The shooter may release this detent action manually after dry firing by actively moving the grip 31 forward, thus displacing the action bar 30a slightly forward against the force of plunger 148 as seen in Pig. 8. This release permits the spring 106 to overcome the spring 104 and lower the action locking tip 102 to inoperative position.

When live cartridges are being fired, however, the operation is somewhat different. Here, instead of intentional forward movement of the hand grip 31, the recoil of the gun serves to release the action lock so that the gun is automatically put in condition for reloading immediately upon completion of a firing operation. The inertia of the action slide 30, 30a, 90 and grip 31, especially since the latter is held in the shooters hand, makes these parts tend to remain in place while the barrel, receiver, trigger plate, stock and parts firmly connected thereto, jerk rearwardly upon recoil. The rearward motion of the receiver (and with it the receiver stop portion 152) in response to the recoil action, thus serves to depress plunger 148, giving a slight momentary spacing between the rear end of the action bar 30a and tip 102 of action locking lever 98 which permits the strong spring 166 to act and release the lock as heretofore described. Thus when live cartridges are being fired, unlocking of the action occurs automatically on firing. However, it will be readily appreciated that an explosion and recoil must occur before unlocking is thus automatically effected. The occurrence of a misfire or hangfire, for example, will not permit the breech to be opened inadvertently by a straight rearward pull on the slide grip, in spite of the fact that the trigger has been pulled and the hammer released. This is due to the normal rearward pull of the shooters hand on the grip 31, plus the requirement that a slight forward push on the grip must be executed to release the lock, thus making direct, conscious action necessary before the breech can be opened under such circumstances.

When the action has been unlocked in either of the ways described, the shooter will draw back on the grip 31 thus moving the action bars 30, 30a and block 90 in a rearward direction. The first increment of movement will cause the bar 30 to depress the cam nose 88 thus lowering the connector bar 78 and disconnecting the trigger from the sear 70 as seen in Fig. 5. Any chance for firing the gun via the trigger until the action is again back in 6 locked position and the trigger again released will thus be removed. The cam recesses 110 of the action block will then strike the forward or unlocking surfaces 118 of the projections 116 of the bolt locking yoke 114 and (if the spring 122 has not already done so) will draw the yoke 114- downwardly out of the locking recess 144 of the receiver, as seen in Fig. 5. Further rearward motion will retract the breech bolt 28 in the usual fashion to the fully retired position shown in Fig. 6. In the process, the discharged cartridge is automatically extracted from the chamber and ejected in a manner known to the art. The apparatus is then ready to receive another cartridge which may be supplied from magazine 32 (Fig. 1) which is preferably mounted on a T-shaped magazine track 160 formed integrally with the forward end of the trigger plate. The magazine will be retained on the trackrby a bent holding spring 162 which underlies the end of the track. Also, during the travel of the action to retired position, the action block 90 runs down the hammer assembly 56 and swings the same rearwardly to the Fig. 6 position where it is latched by the sear 70, the cam surface 68 of the hammer assembly deflecting the sear until the holding ledge 66 of the hammer assembly is caught thereby. Simultaneously the cam portion 92 depresses the follower 94 and, through control arm 96 removes the effect of spring 106 on locking lever 98. The spring 104 is, therefore, now urging the lever in a direction to project the tip 102 upwardly, but is prevented from doing so by the action bar 30:.- overlying the same.

To pick up the new cartridge and chamber it for firing, the shooter moves grip 31 forwardly drawing the action slide 90 and the breech bolt 28 forwardly as well. The cam recesses 110 of the action slide now engage the rearward or locking surface of the projections 116 of the bolt locking yoke 114. Since no space is available for it, however, the yoke 114 does not immediately move upwardly and serves merely as the connecting means between the action slide and the breech bolt. When the bolt reaches battery position recesses 110 act on the locking surfaces to cam the yoke 114 upwardly into recess 144- where its rearward surface engages the locking ledge 146 to prevent any movement of the bolt due to gas pressure upon firing of the cartridge. Continued forward movement of the action carries the lands 111 underneath the yoke ends to lock the yoke in upward position as seen in Fig. 4. The last small forward increment of movement of the action slide 90 and action bars 30, 30a permits the locking lever 98 to swing under the influence of spring 104- so that locking tip 102 moves up behind the end of action bar 30a to lock the same forward during firing. The plunger 148 is, at this time, also slightly depressed to provide the detent tension necessary to retain the locked condition after firing as described heretofore, and the parts are in the Fig. 7 condition. Simultaneously the action bar 30 has moved far enough forward that the connector bar 78 is allowed to swing upwardly enough to connect the trigger and the sear as seen in Fig. 4, and the gun is again ready for firing. If for any reason the action should fail to move all the way home and lock, the plunger 148 will exert sufficient pressure, and hold the action slide 90 and action bar 30 far enough to the rear that the movement of connector 78, when cammed downwardly by the action bar during trigger movement will not be able to maintain sumcient contact with the control lug 76 of the sear 70 to cause an unlatching displacement thereof. This may be seen by visualizing Fig. 4a with the action bar 30 moved rearwardly a very slight distance. It can be seen, then, that the whole range of movement of connector bar in response to trigger action would be significantly lowered due to the steep cam face on the cam nose 88, resulting in the described disconnecting effect. Thus all parts of the action must be secure before firing can occur.

The gun of the present invention further includes a novel safety mechanism for manually disabling the trigger to avoid firing under certain conditions when the gun 7 must be handledor stored in a loaded condition. The usual trigger spring 170 and spring plunger 172 streetranged in the upper surface oft'ne trigger 38 so as to .bedirected upwardly towards the under surface of the trigger plate 36, thus urging the trigger downwardly and forwardly into apositic-n such that it is ready for firing. In the device of the present invention, however, the plunger 172 does not come in direct contact with the trigger plate, but a safety control member 174, mounted vertically on the trigger plate, has aportion thereof which intervenes. Figs. 1 to 4, 4a and 16 show the novel safety mechanism particularly well. The safety control member 174 is a generally Z-shaped stamping bent at one end in one direction to form an operating foot 176, and at the other in the other direction to provide a finger'piece 17 1 overlying the stock of the gun. A central opening receives a shouldered mounting screw 132 which is threaded into the rear surface of the trigger plate. The operating foot 171? extends above the upper surface of the trigger 3S and abovethe trigger spring plunger 172,

but below the lower surface of the trigger plate, and

comprisesa stop element 184 and a detent element 1.36.

he stop element 1% lies adjacent a notch 188 in the foot so that an abutment means or lug 190 on the trigger 38 will either pass into the notch 13% or will strike the stop element 184 depending upon the position of the safety control member 1'74. If the former occurs, firing is permitterlif the latter, firing is prevented. In orderto indicate which position is which, the exterior surface of the stock is preferably provided with suitable indicia 19? (Fig. l) to indicate to the shooter whether or not the safety is set. The detent portion 186 of the foot 176 is provide-d with two downwardly facing dimples or recesses 194, 1.96 (Fig. 16) arranged to receive the rounded tip of the spring plunger 172 when the safety control member is. in either of its set positions. When the plunger 172 engages in recess 1%, the safety mechanism is in fire position. When the plunger 1'72 engages in recess 196, then the safety mechanism is in safe position. The trigger spring and plunger 170, 172 thus provide not only for returning the trigger to normal position ready for firing, but simultaneously serve to retain the desired setting of the safety mechanism and prevent displacement thereof, without the shooters knowledge due to vibration or light accidental contact.

The gun of the present invention is arranged for ready and expeditious take-down and assembly, and to this end a novel grip arrangement is provided, as well as a novel quick-disconnect arrangement for making the connection between the grip 31; and the action bars 30, 30a. As seen in Figs. 1 and 12 to 15 the grip 31 is arranged to slide directly on the forearm 23 of the stock 22. For this reason the forearm outline is generated by parallel elements and. has no forward taper over most of its length so that the grip 31 will have the same degree of sliding fit at all points along its normal operating stroke.

As can be'seen from Figs. 13 and 14, the grip is a hollow U-shaped shellconstructed to fit on the forearm 23 and, per Fig. 1, to be applied from the forward end. It is preferably made of light weight synthetic resinous material and includes at its upper edges inwardly extending flanges 200 and 201 which slightly overlie the upper surface of the forearm and prevent separation of the slide therefrom except by endwise removal. The forward flanges 200 may have any suitable'spacing between their inner-edges. The rearward flanges howeven should preferably be'spaced far enough to'admit the action bars .30, 30a between their inner edges as will presently appear.

The barrel 26 is, of course, connected to the receiver 24 as are action bars 30 and 30a, so thatall retain the same relative position when they arebeing removed from or replaced in thestock as seen in Fig. 15. The forward ends of the action bars are rigidly connected bya .U- shaped bridge member 202'which extends upwardly from the ends of the action bars and has the end ofeach leg downwardly turned to form a connector tongue 204. The grip has formed therein at each side an upwardly open ing socket 206 to receive one of the tongues 204. The upper inner wall of eachsocket is preferably notched out as indicated by reference character 208, Fig. 14, so as to allowit-he bridge member tongues 204 to sink sufficiently deeply into the grip sockets 206, that the upper most surface of the bridge member will be substantially flush with the upper grip surface to give a smooth, finished appearance.

It will be understood that to disconnect the barrel, receiver, trigger plate and action bar assembly from the stock, all that is necessary is to loosen the mounting bolts (for example bolts 210, 212. Figs. 1 and 15) and then lifttheassembly upwardly as shown, in Figs. 14 and 15. The tongues 20 i merely lift out of their sockets 206 so that unfastening of the usual connections is not re- 7 quired, and action bars 30, 30a are permitted to pass between flangesllll of .the grip. 31. When the assembly is being returned to place in the stock it is only necessary to position the grip 3 1 in the correct position along the forearm 23 and then drop the assembly into place, the tongues204 moving into place in sockets 206 as in Fig. 13 and automatically effecting the driving connection required between the action bars and the grip.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than thoseherein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A slide-action firearm comprising a receiver; a breech bolt reciprocable in the receiver; a latchable. and releasable hammer; a reciprocable action slide arranged to drive said breech bolt; manual operating means arranged to reciprocate said-action slide to move said breech bolt to and from breech closing position in said receiver; an action lock arranged normally to extend into the path of movement of said action slide when in breech closing position so as to prevent movement thereof rearwardly in said receiver by said manual operating means; unlocking means effective in response to release of said hammer to urge said action lock in a direction out of the path of movement of said action slide; and resilient means acting between said action slide and said receiver normally to urge said action slide rearwardly into frictional engagement with said action lock to deter said action lock from being moved out of the path of movement of said carriage by said unlocking means in spite of hammer release, said resilient means also being capable of deflection upon movement of said manual operating means forwardly relative to said receiver to release said frictional engagement and thereby to give effect to the urging of said unlocking means whereby to unlock said action slide.

2. A slide action firearm comprising a receiver having a bolt locking recess therein; a generally cylindrical breech bolt reciprocable in the receiver and provided with an annular groove; a, reciprocable action slide for driving the breech bolt disposed below the breech bolt and provided with. upwardly facing cam recesses in its surface; and a U-shaped yoke slidably received in said annular groove and. movable upwardly; into said locking recessjfor locking-said bolt in battery position, each leg of said yoke being provided with a. cam projection cooperable with one of the cam recesses on said action slide for extending and retracting said yoke to lock and unlock said breech bolt and for reciprocably driving, said breech bolt in said receiver.

3. A slide action firearm comprising a receiver having a-bolt locking recess therein; a generally cylindrical breech bolt reciprocable in the receiver and provided with an annular groove; a reciprocable action slide for driving the breech bolt disposed below the breech bolt and provided with upwardly facing cam recesses in its surface; a U-shaped yoke slidably received in said annular groove and movable upwardly into said locking recess for locking said bolt in battery position, each leg of said yoke being provided with a cam projection cooperable with one of the cam recesses on said action slide for extending and retracting said yoke to lock and unlock said breech bolt and for reciprocably driving said breech bolt in said receiver; and means to prevent inadvertent disconnection of said yoke from said breech bolt upon removal of the latter from said receiver.

4. A lockable breech bolt assembly for a firearm comprising a breech bolt having a peripheral groove; a U- shaped yoke slidably received in said groove for reciprocating movement therein, between extended locking and retracted non-locking positions; and a spring mounted on said breech bolt and engaging the legs of said yoke for urging said yoke towards retracted position.

5. A lockable breech 'bolt assembly for a firearm comprising a breech bolt having a peripheral groove; a U- shaped yoke slidably received in said groove for reciprocating movement therein, between extending locking and retracted non-locking positions; a spring mounted on said breech bolt and engaging the legs of said yoke for urging said yoke towards retracted position; and a mounting screw for retaining said spring in normal operating position, said spring acting normally to effectively close the open end of the U-shaped yoke and prevent inadvertent separation of the yoke from the breech bolt Whether or not the spring mounting screw is in place.

6. A lockable breech bolt assembly for a firearm comprising a breech bolt having a peripheral groove; a U- shaped yoke slidably received in said groove for reciprocatory movement therein, between extended locking and retracted non-locking positions; a spring mounted on said breech bolt and engaging the legs of said yoke for urging said yoke towards retracted position, said breech bolt having a central longitudinal bore; cartridge firing means slidable in said bore including a shouldered element having spaced shoulders; and a mounting screw for retaining said spring in normal operating position, said screw also projecting into said bore between said shoulders and retaining said shouldered element in place therein.

7. A slide action firearm comprising a receiver; a breech bolt reciprocable in said receiver; a reciproeable action slide arranged to dr le the breech belt; a stock underlying and mounting said receiver and action slide and including a forearm; a grip reciprocable on the forearm of the stock and removable therefrom and replaceable thereon by relative motion longitudinally of the stock, said grip having an upwardly opening socket therein; and a downwardly extending tongue at the forward portion of said action slide disposed in said socket and removable therefrom by upward motion of said receiver and action slide relative to said stock.

8. A slide action firearm comprising a receiver; a breech bolt reciprocable in said receiver; a reciprocable action slide arranged to drive said breech bolt and including spaced action bars extending forwardly of the receiver; a stock underlying and mounting said receiver and action slide and including a forearm underlying said action bars; a grip reciprocable on the forearm of the stock and removable therefrom and replaceable thereon by relative motion longitudinally of the stock, said grip having an upwardly opening socket on each side; a U- shaped bridge member connecting the forward portion of said action bars and terminating at each end in downwardly extending tongues, one at each side of the forearm, said tongues being disposed each in one of said sockets and removable therefrom by upward motion of said receiver and action slide relative to said stock.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 818,570 Sprangel Apr. 24, 1906 1,401,568 Swebilius Dec. 27, 1921 1,786,213 Loomis Dec. 23, 1930 2,377,703 Loomis June 5, 1945 2,387,669 Loomis Oct. 23, 1945 2,455,644 Barnes Dec. 7, 1948 2,480,017 Green Aug. 23, 1949 2,585,275 Ruger Feb. 12, 1952 2,622,359 Belleri Dec. 23, 1952 2,654,175 Hansen Oct. 6, 1953 2,685,754 Crittendon et a1 Aug. 10, 1954 2,711,043 Bent June 21, 1955 

